According to various reports, Jurrien Timber came through a full first-team training session unscathed yesterday and will be in contention for Saturday’s clash with Paris Saint-Germain.
Arsenal train again today at London Colney before flying out to Budapest this afternoon, where they’ll hold a final session at the Puskas Arena tomorrow.
Timber hasn’t featured for the Gunners since mid-March due to an unspecified injury, but was selected yesterday by the Netherlands for their upcoming World Cup campaign, suggesting confidence in his recovery is growing.
In his absence, Arsenal leaned heavily on Ben White until the England international suffered medial knee ligament damage in the 1-0 win over West Ham earlier this month. Cristhian Mosquera deputised in the victory over Burnley, while Martin Zubimendi started at right-back in the final game of the season, albeit with Arteta heavily rotating his side.
Obviously, the manager has to weigh up the risk of selecting Timber, who may still not be fully fit, against a star-studded Paris Saint-Germain attack likely to target any weakness in the Dutchman’s game.
As far as we’re aware, Arsenal have no other major injury concerns. Despite recent scares, Noni Madueke and David Raya are both fine, while Mikel Merino made his return after three months out with a late cameo at Selhurst Park.
We’ll hear more from the manager and players once they arrive in Hungary.
In the meantime, managers, players and plenty of former Gunners have all had their say on what promises to be an epic finale to the season on Saturday. You can read our round-up here.